Dear FMLers and esp. Dr. Williams:
 
Pardon me for jumping right into the subject of stool, but, as all of us are
presumably ferret lovers, most of us are also long-time stool-watchers --
nevertheless, the squeamish should jump to the next entry.  Spot, our
nine-month old female sable, appears to be mostly normal (normal appetite,
demeanor, etc. -- except maybe she's sleeping a bit harder and more than
usual, although it's hard to tell), but for the last two weeks has had the
occasional (maybe once a day) diarrhea-like stool -- runny, clearish liquid
with a solid component that is the consistency and color of sawdust.  Her
other stools appear normal, except that OCCASIONALLY they are a bit green
tinged.  This last part led me to look at the FAQ for its description of
ECE, but I couldn't tell from the info in the FAQ if the above-described
symptoms were consistent with ECE.
 
When she first started showing these symptoms, we were about to go on
vacation, leaving Spot with a friend, so I took her to the emergency vet for
a stool sample to see if she had a parasite or something like that (stool
sample was negative but, I believe, cursorily performaed); I asked the vet
whether she though it could be ECE and she said "what's ECE?" (in fact, she
seemed not to believe me and showed me a ten year-old book on ferret
pathology as proof that there was no such thing -- I should always bring the
info from Dr.  Williams whenever I go to a new vet).  I intend to take Spot
in to the vet to have her blood work done and maybe another stool sample
analyzed, but I was hoping for some up-front insight before I go in (my
regular vet is good and earnest, but not very knowledgable about ferrets).
Anyway, thanks for reading.  Feel free to send responses to
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       Tim, Julie & Spot
[Posted in FML issue 1496]